The Cage, Re-Opened
by kitti47
Summary: 50 years after Lucifer was locked in the cage, he seems to be free again, potentially restarting the apocalypse. Castiel revives Dean for help, but their hunt for Lucifer is derailed when they discover a yellow-eyed demon. post season 5 AU. rated m for language.
1. Chapter 1

The scene of the city whipped by Dean as the he stared out the window on the bus. The buildings, taller than he was used to, were blurred from the speed. Wind howled by the window that couldn't quite close, and the occasional raindrop landed on Dean's skin as rain pattered the bus, drenching the outside world.

All unfamiliar sensations. All sensations that would be normal on Earth.

The bus lurched to a stop, letting out passengers, and Dean walked down the old, creak-y steps, foot landing in a puddle of water at the bottom. He walked through the long streets of the city, buildings which seemed like they should be shorter towering over him, and found his way back to the motel he and Cas had checked out.

It was four stories high. Seemed like the kind of thing you'd see in a fancy hotel- but all of the buildings on Earth were bigger than he was used to. He supposed that was inevitable, having been gone for fifty years.

Dead. In Heaven.

Better than dead in Hell, he supposed.

Dean unlocked the door to his room, swinging it open to see Cas still staring at the notes Dean had pinned on the wall, old fashioned style. You could do it on a computer these days, but Dean didn't exactly know how, and he doubted the angel did, either.

"You still looking that over?" Dean asked.

Cas didn't respond. Instead, he asked, "How was it?"

"What?"

"Earth," Cas said, without taking his eyes off the wall.

"I don't know, man. Earth-like. What do you want me to say?" Dean said, and before Cas could respond, "Hey, if you're actually getting something from looking at that, _please_ let me know."

Cas shook his head. "Did you talk to any hunters?"

"Yeah," Dean said. "I managed to find a hunter who both remembered me _and_ didn't try to exorcise me, seeing as how I should be dead." He internally winced. It sounded whinier than he meant it to.

If Cas noticed, he didn't mention it. "Who?"

"Nobody." Dean sighed. "I was being sarcastic."

"Oh," Cas said.

"We should still try to talk to some hunters," Cas said, turning towards Dean, and after a slight pause, "I don't think they tell me everything."

Dean gave a small laugh. "No shit, Cas. Have you _met_ you? I wouldn't tell you everything either." Dean shifted a little. "Not that I'm lying to you." He winced. "I mean, I'm not. I just realized it sound—" _foot, mouth._ "It sounded bad," he finished awkwardly.

Cas nodded, but Dean couldn't read his face. As usual.

"Could you talk to them?" Cas said. "Please." It was still brusque and cold, but Dean got the hint. It was a request, not an order.

He sighed. "Alright. But don't get your hopes up. I'm still dead, you know. They like _real_ humans."

Cas nodded. "I know."

...

Dean and Cas drove to a hunter's apartment. It was a small, one room place, inside one of those tall, impressive buildings. The room Cas led Dean to was dark, lit only by a lamp with a cracked shade, and, even though the wallpaper pattern was sleek and cold, it still felt almost like normal. Not too future-y at all. Dean sighed. He had to get over that.

The hunter was a middle-aged woman. She had short, black hair, and light brown skin. A younger man hung with her, also with short black hair. He sat on the table off to the side, holding some notes. The hunter glowered at Cas.

Dean fidgeted. Being around the living felt…wrong somehow.

"You actually made any progress?" the hunter asked.

"Yes," Cas said. "I brought help."

"Wow," the hunter said agitatedly. "That counts? Cuz I brought help, too," she said, pointing at her partner. "Still not farther on the case."

"This is Dean Winchester." Cas said, gesturing a hand to Dean. "He was present when Lucifer's cage was first open—and when it closed."

The hunter looked at Dean. "Well?" she said. "You have anything?"

Dean felt his jaw clench. He tried to think back on what he knew about Lucifer and his cage— _Sam. Sam was trapped in the cage with Lucifer and Michael._ He swallowed. _Because if it's open…_ Sam was dead, anyway.

"Hello?" the hunter asked.

"There were two archangels in there," Dean said quickly. "Cas and I went back to where the cage closed last, but we didn't find anything." Going back had been – well, even more painful than he'd expected. He bit the inside of his cheek just thinking about it. And he couldn't even go for a drive to try to clear his head- he didn't have his own car yet- he'd had to take the bus.

"Great," the hunter said.

The young man fidgeted for a second, then stood up from the small table he'd been sitting on. "There's, uh, something else," he said.

"Yeah?" Dean asked.

"There was a monster outbreak a couple days ago—that's when the whole cage thing happened, right?"

"It is," Cas said.

"Yeah. So not the same area, but the timing's sure a coincidence. Reportedly there were some vampires, werewolves, and a wendigo. Also some demons, too." He paused. "So, pretty weird. Not all of the reports matched up— some parts we didn't even recognize."

Dean looked at Cas. "So, I was going to hear about this big monster thing when?"

"Now," Cas said. "I mean, I just heard." Then he turned to the other hunter. "Linda, why didn't you tell me?"

"I tried," the hunter—Linda—snapped. "Kevin and I were trailing two of the demons when you and your angel buddies decided to come in and derail our hunt."

"I—Lucifer is more important," Cas said.

"People are dying!"

"Many more people will die if we don't find Lucifer!"

"So," Dean coughed. "We should go check that big monster thing out, right Cas?"

Cas sighed, quickly glancing around the room. "We _need_ to find Lucifer."

"You have somewhere else to start looking?" Dean asked. "I know its flimsy, but it's the only connection we've made so far."

"Fine," Cas said.

"Do you need help?" Linda asked reluctantly.

"I'll tell you if we do."

...

Dean used the money he'd won at pool, which fortunately hadn't changed, to rent a cheap car. It was sleeker than the impala, and red. Dean thought whoever designed the car was trying too hard for 'cool' and overshot.

"Who were they?" Dean asked as they sped down the highway.

"Hunters," Cas said. "Sort of. It's complicated." He opened his mouth to say more, but stopped.

"Yeah, whatever," Dean said. He leaned forward, in the passenger's seat. "Hey, lemme drive."

"Dean, you don't have a license anymore."

"So? Neither do you, I bet."

"And you haven't driven a car in decades."

"…That's a no, then?"

Cas rolled his eyes.

Dean ignored him, turned on the radio and leaned back. The music was unfamiliar and faster than he was used to, but it was loud, and drowned out the rest of the noise in the car. Soon, he'd managed to drown out everything except the music and the noise of the road.

...

Cas teleported Dean and himself to the scene of the crime. They had to bypass security because Dean had yet to get a fake ID. Dean looked around the house. The design was different than he was used to- long curved walls smoothed the transitions between rooms.

Dean looked around the room. Whatever did this didn't care whether it made a mess. The bodies had been removed, but blood was still splattered across the walls. _That's going to take a while to get off,_ Dean thought. Then, _I wonder if there were any survivors._ But most people weren't prepared to fight the supernatural.

He took out the EMF reader Cas had managed to get. He wondered if Cas got it from a hunter- for some reason, it was weird imaging an angel asking for tech.

Dean walked around the room. Nothing. He looked at Cas. "Find any sulfur?" he asked.

Cas shook his head.

"We've gotta check the bodies," Dean said.

Dean lay on a motel bed with the TV channel turned to the first half-decent thing he could find. Cas paced. He stopped, fidgeted with one of the sleeves of his shirt, and paced again.

"So," Dean said. "What have we got?"

"We haven't gotten any closer to Lucifer," Cas said, agitated.

Dean ignored him. "No EMF, so not ghosts. No sulfur, so I don't think it was a demon. Still plenty of other creepy crawlies out there. What do you think?"

Cas turned toward Dean. "I think," he said, "That we should be looking for Lucifer."

Dean sighed. "I meant about the case, Cas."

"The case? We don't even know if this is where we should start looking!" Cas said.

"Either way," Dean said, raising his voice. "People are dying here. We need to do something."

"I know that, Dean," Cas said. "But don't you think it's a little more important—"

"No," Dean said. "I mean, I'm doing what I can. If you really don't like it, you can always send me back to heaven."

Cas blinked. "Don't be ridiculous." He sighed. "Just keep going. What do you think it is?"

Dean relaxed. Of course, Cas wouldn't do that. But sometimes Dean could never tell.

...

Dean was putting his money on a rugaru. He and Cas had checked by the morgue, but not much of the bodies were left. Sounded like something ate them. He pocketed a bottle of gasoline and a lighter, and out of caution grabbed a machete, too. The other hunters did mention vampires. _And demons. Wonder if I can still remember an exorcism._

He and Cas had split up to search the area with the most recent police report Cas heard. Apparently he could do that now. Dean could never tell what an angel's powers were. Splitting up was fine by him, however. He needed some alone time.

The sun was setting by the time they started, and Dean perked up, hearing a commotion up ahead, he ran forward against the alley's wall, ready with the torch and gasoline. When he peaked around the corner he saw a man and a woman, standing over the body of something beheaded. Dean wondered if they were other hunters, but stopped himself from stepping out. He wasn't friendly with any hunters right now.

"That's another one," the woman said.

"How many does that make it?" the man asked.

"So far, twelve. Damn." Dean heard a sigh. "You aren't blaming me for this, are you?"

"You mean, because those things were following you? Well, maybe a little…" the man said.

"Following us. And it doesn't matter. At least we left, and we're cleaning up this mess."

After another sigh, Dean heard footsteps. He peaked around the corner again, to see the man and woman walking away with the body, and made a snap decision to follow them. They obviously knew more about this problem than he did.

He crept closer, and ducked behind a car as the couple walked up to their own car.

The man set the body down in the trunk and the woman put the head in. She yawned. "I'm tired," she said. "And hungry. How about we burn this sucker in the morning and get something to eat now."

The man grunted. "Why can't we burn him now?"

"I don't feel like it."

"But if the hunters find him—"

"They'll just assume another hunter took care of it. Geesh. You've been non-stop grump since you got out of hell."

 _Demons,_ Dean thought. And he didn't even have Ruby's knife anymore. _I should have asked Cas for his angel blade._

"I wonder why," the man said sardonically

He needed Cas. He tried to back up quietly, but, as he was turning, knocked the car's mirror. Damn.

"Fine," the woman said. "I'll help you get rid of the body now, if you help me dispose of whatever soul was foolish enough to follow us."

Dean blinked. So they had heard him. He turned to run. He took two steps before something heavy hit him in the back. He groaned and rolled over to see the female demon facing him, with her hand raised.

"Why are you following us?"she asked. "I'd rather know before I kill you."

Dean grunted and didn't respond. He tried to remember the exorcism, but it wasn't coming to him. He'd never thought he'd need to practice it in heaven.

"Answer me!" the demon said. Dean winced as she pushed harder on his ribs, keeping him pinned to the cement floor.

"I don't know," Dean said. _Buy some time_. "Curiosity, I guess. I wanted to see what you were."

"Too bad for you."

The male demon finally walked over to him. He seemed puzzled. "We're going to kill him?"

She sighed. "Unless you have a better idea."

"Cas," Dean whispered, hoping it was to quiet for the demons to hear.

"Shouldn't we not up the body count? It'll look suspicious," the male demon said, while the female demon cocked her head to the side, curiously.

"Cas, if you can actually hear me, two demons are about to kill me. Just thought you should know."

"Who's Cas?" the female demon asked. Dean swallowed.

The alley was mercilessly quiet for a moment before Dean heard the familiar rustling of wings. He tried to push himself up, wincing at the pain in his ribs, to see Cas and the two demons standing a few paces away from each other. None of them moved. The stillness almost made Dean hesitate to act.

Then he inhaled and charged the female demon, who was closer to him, before he could back down, and yelled, "Cas, your knife!"

The demon stepped out of the way, letting Dean slam into her partner, who was still frozen by the sudden appearance of an angel. Her partner caught Dean by his arms, almost reflexively, it seemed, and Dean could see his face for the first time.

The man regained composure and quickly shoved Dean towards Cas – or at least where Cas used to be. By the time Dean hit the ground Cas was already at the opposite 180, behind the demons. As he pulled out his angel blade, the woman grabbed her partner and they both vanished into thin air.

Dean took a moment to catch his breath as Cas walked over to him. "Are you hurt?" he asked, pulling Dean to his feet.

Dean grimaced. "I may have cracked a rib when those guys were pushing me around, but I'll live," he said. Before he even finished speaking, he felt Cas's hand rest gently on his chest. A second later, the pain trickled away.

"Is that better?" Cas asked.

"Yeah," Dean said. "I mean, I said I was fine. And some help you were back there – nice reactions. What, were you waiting to see if I was bluffing about them wanting to kill me? Cuz I don't really look forward to going back to heaven yet."

Cas blinked. "I thought I saw…" he said.

Dean sighed. "I know, Cas. I saw it too."

Cas looked at Dean, confused.

"The demon possessing the man," Dean said. "He had yellow eyes."


	2. Chapter 2

"You're sure of it?" Cas asked. "You actually saw a yellow eyed demon?"

"Pretty sure," Dean said. "I mean, I was only a couple inches from the guy's face." Dean leaned against the motel's kitchen counter. Cas had taken them back after the fight and seemed intent on questioning Dean now.

"You saw them first. What were they doing?"

"Disposing of a body," Dean said. "I thought it was a vampire but I couldn't confirm that."

Cas looked puzzled. "Why would demons fight vampires?"

"Who cares?" Dean said. He smiled a little. "The point is, we found a yellow eyed demon. That's good news."

"No," Cas said. "Azazel was a powerful demon. Another one like him would be bad."

Dean rolled his eyes. "I mean, yellow-eyes was involved in freeing Lucifer, even if it was only by freeing Lilith. What if this guy's similar?"

"Maybe," Cas said. "You don't have much evidence."

Dean shrugged. "You have any better ideas?"

"No," Cas said after a moment. "But that doesn't mean you're right." He paused. "It is worth looking into though."

Dean smiled. "Great. So we agree then?" He sighed after a minute. "What's wrong, Cas? You look disturbed."

"Uh. It's nothing. Let's just keep up the hunt."

…

The demon sat up in bed. Of course, demons didn't need to sleep, nor could they, but stretching out on the bed was relaxing after so many years in hell.

And one plucky angel with a pet human could have sent him back there… or killed him. He sighed audibly.

When his partner didn't respond, he sighed again.

"Is something wrong with your mouth?" she asked. She'd taken the body of a short, young woman with long dirty blond hair pulled back. He wondered if her human still sounded in the back of her head, like his did. If so, she didn't let it show. But she was much older and more experienced than he was. Right now, she was hunched at a desk, reading.

"No," he said. "I just don't know what to do if we come across an angel again…How do you fight them?" He remembered what angels were like. He didn't want to be at their mercy again.

His partner laughed. "I don't fight them. That's why we bailed. Unless you know how."

"You mean…" he said, and felt very small, giving the human's thoughts time to surface, and irritate him. Confusion and fear, but also curiosity came through. He pushed them to the side, and asked, "From my time in Hell?"

"After spending so much time with them, you've got to have some ideas. I'd hope so."

The demon shook his head. "I…I didn't fight them."

"Of course," she said, almost mockingly, but he couldn't tell. "It wouldn't matter if you told us when _he_ was coming."

"Who?"

"Lucifer," she said. "We helped spring him, right? I figure we're on his good side now."

The demon nodded, unconvinced.

"So, where is he? You _do_ know?" his partner asked.

"Uh…" _Still in Hell, if I played my cards right._ "I – I don't know. Things were so chaotic when the cage opened, I didn't have long to see." It wasn't even a lie.

"Of course," his partner said, rolling her eyes. She set down the book she'd been reading. "Well, are you done pretending to be human, at least?"

"Yeah," the demon said, and slid of the bed.

"Good," she said. "Then we should plan our next move."

"Continue cleaning up your mess, right?" he asked.

"I – my mess?" she said indignantly. "I only made my mess _saving your ass_."

He shrugged. It was technically true. "Either way it already drew an angel here."

His partner shook her head. "Doubt it. Monster hunting isn't usually something angels do. I'm more worried about the hunter."

"The human? But he wasn't…" the demon looked down. He couldn't explain why, but he didn't want to fight the human. "He wasn't a threat."

"Where there's one hunter there could be others, and," she shrugged, "You kind of stand out."

"What do you mean?"

"You've been setting off omens since we came to town. If the monsters weren't following me, they probably would have come for that."

"I didn't mean to…" he said.

"I know. Either way, it means we'll be hunted. I just hope we can find Lucifer soon."

The demon swallowed. What he hadn't told his partner was that while he was in the cage, along with the devil, Michael, and Michael's pet was that he had never been meant to let Lucifer out. He was supposed to keep him locked up – through all of the pain and hell and torment, he could at least remember that.

Which meant if his partner was right and Lucifer was free, then he failed the only job he ever had.

It'd serve them right. Who would create a demon, just to keep an eye on an angel?

But he'd done his job for centuries, and thrown it away, for what? Just a momentary chance at freedom.

Perhaps demons really were cursed beings.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Dean leaned against the motel's wall, while he was on the phone with the younger hunter Cas had introduced him to, Kevin.

"So I dug up some old info on the yellow eyed demon you told me about," Kevin said.

"Thanks," Dean said. "What've you got?"

"Probably stuff you already know," Kevin said, yawning loudly over the phone's speakers. "But I guess I'll repeat it, if you want."

"What do you mean 'I already know'?" Dean asked.

"This was your case or your dad's back in the day, right?"

Dean sighed. "How'd you find out?"

"Castiel told me."

"Let me guess. He also told you I've been dead for a while?" Dean said, scoffing.

"Yeah."

"Christ. That dick."

The phone was silent for a moment. Then Kevin said, "Listen, so the demon makes a deal, then collects ten years later, possible house fire, right?"

"Yeah," Dean said.

"Well, I checked. No demonic signs in the area ten years earlier, which means this is probably his first time in town. So, if this yellow eyed demon has the same method as the last one your job is to stop him from making any deals."

"My job?"

"Right? To save people?" He stopped talking to yawn again.

"Yeah," Dean said. "Man, why don't you go take a nap, we've got this and it's probably loads easier to read this demon stuff when you've slept."

"I'm fine. I was just up late last night."

"What, were you studying or something?" Dean asked.

"Not exactly. I'll tell you more later, if you really gotta know. But for now you have a demon to catch."

…

Dean wished he'd remembered more about the demon's face – the yellow eyed one. All he got on the person the demon was possessing was thin, with light skin, and had a small ish nose and dark messy hair. Enough to see if there was a missing person report, he hoped. If he had some real info, he'd have an easier time lying to people. And he needed to do that to find the demon.

Cas materialized next to Dean in the hotel room with a quick flap of his wings, standing in front of him. Dean got off the bed.

"Find anything?" Dean asked.

Cas shook his head. "Most of the monsters I saw either are dead or must be hiding. I was looking for the demons, but if they haven't left the town, they must have some kind warding."

"Wait, warding against angels?"

Cas nodded.

"Like that freaky shit you put on our ribs when Lucifer got out the first time?"

"Sort of," Cas said. "But I doubt they put it on their ribs."

"Damn," Dean said. "You've got to teach me how to do that when we're done with this demon thing."

Cas squirmed. "Maybe,"

Dean pushed Cas lightly. "Relax, Cas. I wouldn't use it on you."

Cas didn't reply.

Dean frowned a little. "What's wrong? You've been down ever since we ran into those demons. Which was a _good thing_ remember? We like leads."

Castiel sat down on the motel's bed. "I know," he said emotionlessly. "I just…I thought I saw…"

"Thought you saw what? The demon had yellow eyes. We both saw that," Dean said.

"I know," Cas said. "It's – it's not important."

"Whatever," Dean said. "Just tell me. Or don't tell me. Just talk to me."

Cas looked at him. "Huh?"

"We never just talk anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"You know," Dean said. He smiled slightly. "You tried to come visit me in Heaven and convince me it wasn't so bad. There wasn't much to do besides talk. God, you were such a dick about it."

Cas looked confused. "And me being a dick, you remember that fondly?"

Dean laughed. "Yeah I guess it's a little weird. It was just," he said, "nice to talk to a real person. Even if it was just for a while."

Dean sat down on the bed. He leaned into Cas as the angel put his arm around him. Earlier, physical contact like this would have embarrassed him, but after all their time, especially in Heaven, it felt almost natural now. "You're not going to tell me why you're upset, are you?"

"N—" Cas started. Then, "I'm not upset."

"You're a terrible liar." Dean sighed. "I'm here anyway, if you do want to talk about it," he said calmly.

"…Thank you," Cas said. The room was quiet after that, and Dean just let himself breathe in the familiarity of his friend.

…

Cas went to search for the demon again in the night. The day's work had been futile, and even with Dean to help him ask humans for information, they hadn't uncovered anything. Or, at least, anything important. _Anything about the yellow eyed demon._

He should have told Dean where he was going. If something did happen – though he doubted it would – he would have appeared to have left for no reason.

Walking around the city was probably useless, but Cas needed something to do while Dean slept. Unlike the human believed, Castiel didn't prefer to stand around all night, doing nothing.

 _Report on the yellow eyed demon to your commanding officer_ , Cas thought. _That's what a good soldier would do_. But he didn't. He had to confirm something first. Though the longer he went and more information he left out of his reports, the higher chance he'd be taken back up _there_ sooner. Heaven. Once home, now only where angels went when they had to be reminded of their duties. And bringing Dean back, even just for work, already made him suspicious the eyes of Hester, his superior.

He shook his head to clear it. Thinking of Heaven as it was now confused him. And it was foolish. Foolish enough it took him a little bit to even process that he'd seen one of the demons through a motel's window.

…

The demon relaxed in the motel with the TV turned on. His partner had been making fun of him for it, but the whole scene felt strangely familiar. It calmed him.

The door opened. "Hey," he said in response to the noise. "You better have brought me back something that tastes okay to eat." When his partner didn't respond, he turned to see if he offended her, only to see the angel they'd encountered earlier in the door. The demon swallowed. "Fuck," he said.

The angel took a few more steps into the room, letting the door fall shut behind him. "I thought demons didn't need to eat," he said flatly.

"I—we—What's it matter?" the demon said. He'd already jumped off the bed, and now took a couple steps backward. Every part of him wanted to flee, but he didn't even know how to travel through space quickly, appearing to teleport. Only his partner knew that, he was too young, too inexperienced.

 _The only way I know how to fight angels_ , he thought _, is with tricks and talking and stalling for time._ He could do that. He sighed, and stopped trying to hide his demonic eyes. "Why are you here, anyway?" he asked.

The angel walked farther forward, and it took all of the demon's will power not to step back. _He could smite me right here, if he wanted to … so maybe he just wants to talk_.

The angel's jaw clenched, but it was the only sign he was emoting at all. That changed when he spoke. "Sam?" he asked. His voice cracked with only one word.

The demon swallowed. It was what Lucifer used to call him, during the periods of time he was apparently deserving of a name. "Who is that?" the demon asked.

"It was your name," the angel said, "When you were human."

"I was never human," the demon, Sam, said. It had to be true – didn't it? His partner – she believed she was human once, but she was kind of weird.

The angel was quiet for a moment. "Then why are you here?" he eventually asked.

"What?"

"Why are you staying in a cheap motel, like you did when you were human? Why didn't you try to kill Dean when he was so close to you?" the angel asked. "Why did I recognize your face? Even after Hell…"

Sam swallowed. "It doesn't matter," he said. How could he explain? "I – I just can't have been human."

"All demons were, once."

"But—" if he'd been human, it'd mean once there had been life outside of the cage, Hell, eternal torment. A life he couldn't remember. And if that was true, it'd just make everything worse. "I just can't have."

"Sam," the angel said, reaching out his hand.

Sam jumped back. "Don't touch me," he snarled. He ran his hand through his hair quickly. "Just – just get out of here. Before my friend gets back. She's less friendly than I am."

The angel didn't respond immediately, besides letting his hand fall. When he spoke again, his voice was colder. "I have questions," he said.

"Like I give a damn! I'm not answering your questions. So just kill me, send me back to Hell, or get out of here!" Once he got it all out, Sam turned away. He'd answer the questions if – well, he was never going back to Hell. He'd make sure of that.

By the time he turned around to see if the angel had called his bluff, the room was already empty.

…

Cas returned to the motel to find Dean already up. He hadn't been able to come back the rest of the night, he was too busy thinking about Sam, and the sun had already been up for a few hours by the time he had the nerve to return.

"Look who's finally back," Dean said, standing up after he finished tying his shoes. "Have a nice night?"

"Huh?"

"You were gone quite a while. What happened?"

"I. uh. I was reporting to Hester," Cas lied.

"What, your creepy angel boss?"

"Yes. I mean, she's not creepy."

"Whatever you say. You want some coffee?"

Cas shook his head.

Dean paused. "You alright, Cas?" he said. He usually had an uncanny ability to tell Cas's moods.

"Yes," Cas said. What he wanted to say: _No! And you shouldn't be either, because your brother is a demon!_ But what good would telling Dean do? And would Dean even believe him?

"Kay. Hey, Cas, check this out," Dean said. He passed Cas a small tablet the two had grabbed for cheap – they needed it to check the news, and this was how humans did it now. If Dean had trouble adjusting to new technology since his death, he hadn't let Cas know.

Cas took the tablet. "You think it's a monster?" he said, glancing at the news report Dean had pulled up.

Dean nodded. "No signs of a weapon – the police said it looked like an animal killed them. We found demons, but there was a lot of other weirdness in this town. And now more people dying and going missing? If that's not a monster, then it's one hell of a coincidence." Dean paused. "I say we find yellow eyes, see what he knows."

Cas felt his throat clench. "Yellow eyes? I – how do you propose we do that?"

Dean shrugged. "We could try checking for omens. Hey, I _think_ I got more info on our demon."

Cas nodded numbly. "What is it?"

"If I got that demon's face right, the man he's possessing came from this town. I saw him on a missing persons' sign. Just vanished a week ago. I guess he could have jumped bodies but I'm wondering if he escaped from Hell to right here. Any weird angel stuff you can do about that?"

"You're wrong," Cas said. "I already looked for any exits from Hell; there weren't any."

"Whatever," Dean said. "Something's weird about this town, with all the monsters."

Cas sighed. "We could see what the demon can tell us…"

"Yeah, great idea," Dean said, rolling his eyes. "All we have to do is find it first."

…

Sam's partner stopped traveling once they reached the outskirts of town, and now she was glowering at him. "Okay," she said. "Care to tell me how you fucked up massively enough we had to jump town?"

"Hey!" Sam said. "It's not my fault! That angel guy somehow found me!"

She sighed. "You had your hex bag?"

"Of course, but do those even work with angels?"

"Don't know," she said. "Never had to test it. You're warding – it was good?"

"I…" The warding she was talking about was just what he'd managed to glimpse from Lucifer's mind. He didn't even know how it worked. "I don't know. It was just a theory."

"Perfect."

Sam watched her pace angrily back and forth for a bit, before asking, "What's your name?"

She stopped pacing. "What?"

He said, "Or at least something I can call you. Lucifer used to call me Sam. So you can call me that."

His partner sighed. "We're wasting time."

Sam stayed quiet.

"It was Ruby," she said quietly, after a moment. "I thought you knew."

"How would I?"

"We met," Ruby said. "When you were human. I thought that's why you had Lucifer send someone for me."

Sam shook his head. It was hard to keep everything straight through Hell. "All I remember is that I said I knew someone who could help," he said. "I said that a long time ago. I – I don't remember more."

"Uh, fine," Ruby said. "But can you at least tell me what you wanted, first?"

"Yeah," Sam said. "It's becoming obvious – we need to find a way to kill angels."


	4. Chapter 4

Dean and Cas searched the gas station on the outskirts of town. Dean had received a call from one of the people he'd chatted up earlier in the day while looking for info on the demon's host, and allegedly the yellow eyed demon was spotted around here. He'd found sulfur on the bathroom floor, but no demon inside the rest of the building. They must have already left.

 _Just keep searching,_ Dean thought, getting in the driver's seat of the car before Cas could object. _Damn. This would be so much easier if I could talk to Bobby._ But the only people he knew at the moment were those strange hunters Cas had talked to, and he didn't know them very well at all.

Dean sighed. "Cas, I hate to say this," he said. "But don't you think asking more of the god squad for help would speed things up?"

"The rest of my garrison is searching," Cas said. "Just not here."

"Fine," Dean said. "But if we finally find this guy, he may take us to Lucifer."

"And what do we do once we find Lucifer?" Cas asked.

Dean swallowed. "I don't know. Same thing we did last time I guess."

"Sam's not here," Cas said, even more coldly than usual.

"I know," Dean said, and blinked something out of his eyes. He exhaled. It wouldn't do any good to think about Sam in _that place_. _Unless Lucifer was somehow still wearing him out here._

"I meant, I could do it—" Dean said before Cas cut him off.

"No."

Dean laughed bitterly. "If we don't have any other choice."

"It's not an option, Dean."

"Why?" Dean asked. "You think I don't have the guts?"

"I think you don't know what you're talking about."

"Why not? I've been to hell before."

"For four months!" Cas said. "Sam was—Sam's been in there for decades. It's not the same!" Cas inhaled sharply and turned away. "Besides, Lucifer wouldn't go for the same trap twice."

Dean nodded, unconvinced, but he was too distracted to argue more. _Sam_ was… _does that mean Cas thinks he's not there anymore?_

Dean pulled the car up to the next building they were searching, an old warehouse. He got out of the car before Cas could say anything else. _Just search the place and get this over with._ His grip tightened around the Cas's angel blade, which he had convinced Cas to lend him.

Dean pushed the heavy door to the warehouse open. It was big and filled with boxes, and he couldn't see far in.

He stopped and touched the floor near the door. It was there – sulfur. _They've been here._

…

Sam jumped when he heard the noise at the door, and Ruby quickly pulled him behind some of the boxes. He kept still as the human knelt by the door until Ruby pulled him farther away.

"Run," she mouthed.

Sam nodded. He didn't need to be told twice. If the human was here, his creepy guardian angel probably was here too.

He let Ruby take his hand as she took them quickly through the back door, passing through the crates as if they were intangible.

 _I've got to get her to teach me to do that,_ Sam thought.

The trip ended only half a second later when they were yanked out of the air. Sam didn't know where Ruby went, but he hit a tree. Hard. The force broke something in his host's body but he couldn't tell what. He stood up slowly to see the angel had been waiting at the back, and he had Ruby by the neck.

"Where's Lucifer?" the angel asked.

"I have no fucking clue," Ruby chocked. She struggled against his grip, kicking her legs in the air.

Sam swallowed. The angel didn't seem to see him yet. He could just leave her here, she _probably_ would understand.

Sam reached out with his hand and tried to shove the angel back they way he'd seen Ruby fight the human.

Nothing. The angel just glanced at him with ire.

The angel's eyes shone menacingly, and he repeated the question.

Sam was about to try to involve himself farther when the human burst out of the back door. "Cas?" the human asked. Sam smiled. The human's familiar face haunted him and this was the perfect opportunity. He could prove to that angel he'd never been human.


	5. Chapter 5

The sky was dark, and Dean stood outside the warehouse, looking towards a forest and Cas holding the female demon as the male demon stood a few feet away.

Seeing Dean, the male demon turned towards him, and attacked. Dean swung his knife out, stumbling backward, but missed. The yellow eyed demon charged again, clawing at him. Dean managed to cut the demon's arm, but it just yelled and came in faster.

"Hey!" Cas yelled, sounding genuinely surprised the demon was fighting. The demon pushed Dean backwards, and he hit the ground and prepared to stab the demon if he got on him, but when he looked up he saw Cas holding the demon's arm. "Stop that," Cas said.

Dean exhaled, relieved until he realized it meant Cas must have released the other one. Or killed her, but Dean didn't see a body.

The yellow eyed demon laughed and clenched his fist, and Dean saw thin red lines from blood appear on Cas's chest, but Cas didn't react.

Dean stood up. "At least we got one of them," he said, looking at Cas.

The yellow eyed demon glanced around his surroundings nervously. He exhaled when he saw Dean and looked back at Cas. "I wasn't human," he said.

"All demon's were, once," Cas said.

 _Where did this come from?_ Dean thought.

The demon didn't say more, but tried to struggle away from Cas's grip.

Dean sighed. "Let's get him someplace quiet and pump him for information," Dean said. He'd deal with the rest of the weirdness later.

...

The demon had been oddly peaceful during Dean and Cas's trek to an abandoned house on the outskirts of town. He may have tried to escape from the devil's trap painted trunk (Dean did hear banging in there) but he didn't fight Dean or Cas again.

Dean chained the demon over a quickly spray painted devil's trap. To be safe, Dean painted another devil's trap under each door, and lined the window's with salt. Better not have the other demon catch up to them, even if Cas could take care of it.

Dean reached for his bottle of holy water he'd snagged from the trunk when he was done demon-proofing the place, but Cas put his hand on Dean's arm. "Wait," Cas said.

"For what?" Dean said, exasperated. "We're supposed to interrogate him, right?"

Cas nodded slowly. "But we can just try asking first."

Dean sighed at the futile idea, but didn't stop Cas.

Cas turned toward the demon. "Where is Lucifer?" he asked.

The demon groaned. "I don't know," he said. Dean reached for the holy water again and Cas stopped him again.

"What do you know?" Cas said.

The demon quickly looked back and forth between the two of them. "Give me a good reason to tell you?" he said uncertainly.

Dean displayed the angel blade before Cas knocked his hand to the side.

The demon laughed nervously. "And an actual reason – like not being sent back to hell after this is all over. Not just because you want to cut me up."

"Not getting cut up _before_ being sent back to hell," Dean said. Cas was still glowering at him. _Damn, is he ever going to let me get on with this?_ Dean thought. Cas hadn't been so soft when Dean was interrogating Alistair.

Dean sighed, and stabbed the knife in the demon's shoulder. He – it – yelled. _It's just a demon; it's only wearing a person_ , Dean thought. He sliced a shallow line across the demon's chest, making it wince.

"Dean –" Cas said. Dean ignored Cas, who looked paler than usual.

The demon swallowed as Dean raised the knife again. "Do what you want," the demon said. "I – I've had worse."

"Cas, you should leave," Dean said coldly.

"I—" Cas started.

"You're obviously not up for this."

Cas shifted a bit before leaving the room. Dean turned back toward the demon.

"I can be worse," he said.

...

Castiel paced back and forth through up the driveway. The porch lights had been out, leaving the area difficult to see at this hour.

His breathing was hard. He inhaled and tried to slow it. It was a human reflex.

He had to think about this logically. They needed the information.

 _So you're just going to let Dean_ torture his brother _for it?_

He inhaled. He needed advice. He stopped muffling the radio waves around him and let himself be in full contact with the rest of his siblings.

 _Anabiel,_ he said in his true voice. _I need you here._

The moment Anabiel landed next to him he numbed his connection again. Most of the other angels could leave theirs open often, but Castiel always felt overwhelmed by all the noise.

"Castiel," Anabiel said. She smiled slightly. The two of them had both been demoted during or after the events of the near apocalypse – her for falling and disobeying and him for disobeying. Her body – and she was the only angel with their own human body – had been repaired as well as her grace after her encounter with Michael, but both her body and her grace showed scarring. She should have gotten another body but Anabiel could be strangely sentimental at times. Light blue grace shone out of some damaged parts of her skin, as well as darkened areas that didn't shine the same way anymore. (AN: sorry for not making it clear, but Anabiel is supposed to be Ana from the show. I let her survive. I just figured Cas would refer to her by her angel name, and I chose Anabiel because it was similar.)

"Anabiel," Castiel said. "Thank you for coming."

"Not a problem." Anabiel said, looking at her surroundings. "Are you actually going to report to Hester now?"

"No. I mean – not yet." He closed his eyes. "I just need some advice."

Anabiel was quiet for a moment. "What kind of advice **?"**

"What do you mean?"

She smiled sadly. "You're not going to get me in trouble again, are you?"

Castiel shook his head. "You do that enough without my help."

"Thanks."

"I –" he paused. "We found someone who may be able to take us to Lucifer. I think."

"That's great, Castiel," Anabiel said. She straightened her overcoat a bit. "But – what do you need me for?"

"…It's Sam Winchester."

"Winchester?" Anabiel said, confused. "Why do I feel like I know that name?"

"You do know it." Castiel said. "He was Dean Winchester's brother."

"Dean?"

"The human you – He was Michael's sword." Castiel said. He tried to hide his frustration from his voice. "You met him. After you fell."

Anabiel sat down slowly the side of the driveway. "Yeah," she said. "I…I still don't remember that much from when I fell."

Castiel nodded. It wasn't uncommon for angels to forget why they disobeyed. Even without the need for a chain of command, angels weren't built to disobey – that's what he'd heard from the Rit Zien when he first regained consciousness after Lucifer's cage was shut. He'd only managed to piece together what happened by asking Dean – much to Dean's suspicion.

"Well," Castiel said. "He was a friend. I – his brother's with him right now. Trying to get him to talk."

"That's cold."

Castiel looked down on the ground. "I know," he said. "He doesn't know that it's his brother."

Anabiel was quiet for a few minutes. "How? You want to know what, never mind. Just tell him."

"What?" Castiel said.

"Tell him that it's his brother. I mean, why didn't you do that in the first place? "

"I didn't— " _didn't want Dean to get hurt._ But it'd be foolish to say it out loud. "I will," he said.

"Good," Anabiel said. She stood up. "Look I'll…I've got to tell Hester you found something."

"But—"

"Listen, Castiel. I don't know why you think this Sam guy can take us to Lucifer, so do me a favor and don't tell me. Investigate Sam your way. But I have to report part of what you tell me."

Cas nodded. It made sense. They were in enough trouble as it was.

He turned back towards the house to correct his mistake.

...

Cas entered the room to see Dean holding his knife – bloodied – and the demon cut up and shaking. Dean's face was flushed and he appeared about to yell when he saw Cas.

"Cas – what the hell?" Dean said. "I thought you were waiting outside!"

Cas swallowed. "I –" he made the mistake of looking back towards Sam, who was staring at Cas with pleading eyes. Cas turned away. "Dean, you have to stop."

Dean laughed bitterly. "I – we need more information!" he said, brushing back his hair. "And yellow eyes two here keeps lying."

"What did he say?" Cas asked numbly.

Dean sighed. "He – he said he knew Lucifer from in the cage," Dean said reluctantly. "And there weren't any demon's there."

"There would be," Cas said slowly. "After decades in there."

Dean scoffed. "Cas, that thing is _not_ – That is _not_ my little brother."

Cas shut his eyes. So Dean had figured it out already.

"Cas!" Dean said. Sam tried to squirm away from Dean in his chair, but Dean appeared not to notice.

Cas let out a breath. "He is Sam, Dean," he said. "I recognized him – I could see his real face."

Dean shook his head. "That – that's not possible," he said. "And you didn't tell me? Fuck!" Dean's hands balled, and he turned and punched the wall. "Fuck!" he said again.

Cas ignored him – not out of resentment, there just was nothing he could say – and walked up to Sam. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"Fuck you," Sam said, exhausted.

Dean's hand still clenched around the knife. His breathing was the only sound in the room. "I—" he said. "I need to get out of here." He turned towards Cas. "And you. Don't go… doing anything weird or releasing our only lead. Got it?"

"I understand," Cas said.

Without another word, Dean left.

…

Ruby paced back and forth off the side of a highway where she hoped she wouldn't be interrupted by humans. _Sam,_ she thought. _That bastard._ There weren't even words for his foolishness. He wasted his chance for escape, to what? Attack some random hunter? And she could only either run or stay – and staying meant trying to help and getting killed by the angel.

 _So you ran,_ she thought. _Coward._ Ruby tried to ignore the feeling. She had to stay focused, and find out if Sam was still even alive. Number one priority was to rescue him. Then he could help her find Lucifer and the two of them would finally be able to stop running.

First step to rescuing Sam – getting back up. She swallowed as she prepared herself to seek out other demons.

 _So, without Lucifer, who now is the king of hell?_

 _…_

The room was quiet. Cas watched Sam, who was still tied to the chair, not even looking at him anymore. "Do you know where Lucifer is?" Cas asked eventually.

"No," Sam said, glancing at Cas nervously. "Why, if I said yes, would you let me go?"

"I," Cas paused. "I don't know."

"Perfect."

"We will. When this is all over. I promise."

"Whatever you say," Sam said. "Look…if you're going to keep me here, at least tell me who just beat me up."

Cas nodded. "It was Dean. He's your brother. From when you were human."

"Yeah, I already got the last part," Sam said. "So… why are you guys after Lucifer anyway?"

"He needs to be stopped," Cas said. "We can't let him restart the apocalypse."

"Huh," Sam said.

"That surprises you?"

"Yes. I've been stuck with two very powerful angels the last how-many-thousand-years, and, trust me, apocalypse-starting seemed pretty high on the angelic agenda," Sam said.

"It's not," Cas said. "I mean – it's not on my agenda. I – the higher ups haven't talked about it for a while now." He paused. "Why?" he asked. "What do you want with Lucifer?"

Sam laughed bitterly. "I want nothing to do with Lucifer," he said. "But it's my job to guard him. I remember that much, at least."

"It's your job?"

"Yeah. The whole reason I'm in the cage, whether I was created for it or I'm just some ex-human."

Cas swallowed. "I didn't think you'd remember."

"Why?" Sam said. "It was the only thing I had going all that time," his voice got quieter. "I don't even remember why."

Cas didn't respond immediately. Instead, he thought. "Sam," he said eventually. "Do you think you could help us track down Lucifer?"

Sam snorted. "You're serious?"

"Yes," Cas said. "Neither of us wants him out here. It makes sense."

"Only if I was naïve enough to believe you'd actually let me go when it was all over."

"I will," Cas said.

"Maybe," Sam said. "How about instead of taking your word for it, we make a deal?"


End file.
